Australia—Fortune land

Australia—Fortune Land
By Roderick O’Hargan
Author of “The Forty-Niners,” “The Comstock Lode,” etc.
Though the Government officials hushed up the discovery, fearing that it might lead to an “utter disorganization of society,” gold will out—and when it came out Australia experienced a stampede of the wildest sort, with nuggets of wondrous size and fortunes picked up over night.
There was a celebration at the Stag’s Head saloon, Downieville, Sierra County, California. A dozen or more gold-seekers from the nearby bars on the Yuba River were on hand to say good-by to “Sailor” Hargraves. The great California gold rush of 1849 was approaching its crest. “The City,” as San Francisco was known throughout the diggings, was overflowing with wealth. Crowds of red-shirted miners from the creeks, anxious to exchange their dust for something—anything—anything that caught their eye—met and mingled with the vast horde of adventurers drawn from all parts of the world. From the over-taxed saloons came the droning cry, “Money on the bar,” indicating a lucky man inviting the world to celebrate with him.
Even Downieville, born only a few months before, was bubbling with excitement. The guest of the evening, Edward Hargraves, was returning to Australia with the avowed intention of discovering a goldfield even greater than that of California. Like many others, he had come hotfoot to the California diggings one year before. He had not been successful as a miner, this soldier, sailor and bushman. Perhaps he was more of a talker than a worker. He certainly had a flair for the theatrical and was given to boasting of Australia.
Half a century before this little farewell celebration took place, England’s political heads were puzzling over what to do with a huge island in the Southern Seas. A penal colony! Good idea! So for fifty years she had dumped her convicts there—some cut-throats of the lowest type, others misguided idealists who had queer political views. As a result about one-half of the population of Australia were either convicts or “emancipists”—the latter, convicts who had served their terms but were not permitted to return to the motherland.